Club 20 to seek sales tax increase for transportation improvements

New pavement at the Colorado and Utah state line in far northwest Moffat County in 2017.

A coalition of Colorado business groups and civic leaders on Friday announced it will collect signatures to try to ask voters in November for a 0.62 percent sales tax increase that would raise money for the state's billions of dollars in infrastructure needs.

"It's about time we make a serious investment in our transportation infrastructure. Our roads are literally crumbling beneath our feet," Christian Reece, the executive director of the Western Slope county association Club 20, said in a written statement. "This initiative is a responsible and modest approach to provide an immediate solution before our infrastructure goes from bad to worse."

The coalition's members, which include elected officials and business groups from across the state, said they would begin circulating signature petitions immediately. They need 98,492 signatures to get on the November ballot.